"This is a test. If I fail, I die. If I pass, I live on the see another day. In the end, death may seem like a blessing. The journey will be brutal."


For longer than any one man or woman can remember, there has always been a rivalry between two clans of ninja. It hasn't always been this way, so the stories say, but at this time the stories don't matter; history is history and looking back will only make you fall in the present. Generations before this moment, a great break came between these people, but the reason has always been ambiguous. Now it seems like a given that the Hunters of the Shadow will try to attack a small village and the Protectors of the Shadow will save the citizens. Everything appears so black and white and that nobody can change.

The village brought under the attention of both clans isn't that special. It keeps up-to-date with modern technology, such as the cell phone, computer and automobile. Neon signs brighten the dark asphalt of the road when the stars shine overhead, people bustle from their homes to their work, which are never located very far from each other. The only difference is that this village was the home of the rival ninja clans, and their inside culture has affect on the town. People are aware that they cannot stay out too late, even with the Protectors to stop any Hunters' sudden attacks. These Protectors are also very good at hiding their identity, whether it be they blend in with the crowd during the day, or they keep themselves hidden without bothering with a cover-up persona.

Unlike the numbers-greedy Hunters, the Protectors only allow a select few into their clan. Most of the time the admitted ninja are young children pulled off of the street or from an orphanage home, so they have a lifetime of ninja training. When they reached a certain age and point in training, the ninja are sent off to what is called the Ninja Woods to complete their training by proving they are worthy by going through the heart of the Hunters' claimed territory. A path with frequent clearing breaks was woven through the woods from before the split and it forever stays.

Not too much is known as to how the Hunters admit their ninja. They generally rely on numbers rather than skill, but where they acquire such numbers, even after heavy casualties, is unknown. The location of their fortress in the forbidden Ninja Woods is common knowledge to the elite of the Protectors, or those who had survived the long and dangerous path. Why the Protectors continue letting the Hunters reside in the woods, thereby keeping the stressful pressure put on by their sheer numbers, is also guarded information.

All that is important is getting through the path, through the fortress of the Hunters, and to the heart of the woods. For the Hunters, all it seems they want to do is take over the town.



A young woman stands in the middle of a wide clearing in a large wood. Small trees are cast among the morning gloom. A small break in the leaves spreads dappled sunlight over a small pile of golden leaves. Stepping forward, the girl bathes her skin in the rays, even though the bright light blinds her.

Her name is Kiku, and she is a ninja from the Protectors of the Shadow hoping to pass her test. She stands at five foot six and has a light, athletic build. Her hair, a shiny black, is cut to her shoulders, the tips of her hair completely straight all around. To keep it out of her face during the journey, she holds it back with a red ribbon. Her face is rather rounded, with a curved jaw and a chin that is neither weak nor strong. She has high cheek bones, the skin taunt against the bone and a flat, wide, but delicate nose. Her eyes are a light shade of brown, but are shadowed under full eye lashes. She has a small mouth but full lips that rarely show too much expression. Her neck is short and strong, but not too wide, as goes with her shoulders. Her arms are slender and the muscles firm and her legs are long and toned with larger than average feet. Her skin is a milky color, only her face slightly tanned by the sun.

She turns her attention back to the mission and looks around for the path that winds its way through the woods. It hides deep in shadow beneath the tight canopy of trees. She drifts to it, slowly at first, taking in her surroundings, as she'll be in these woods for months; her task is to follow the path to the end.

As she follows this path, the trees slowly grow closer together and their trunks thicker. The already impenetrable canopy from the numerous smaller saplings grows even more dense, making the daylight that manages to filter through the leaves appear as if it were night above. Kiku can only image what night will be like in the woods.

After walking for what feels like many miles, she arrives in another clearing. There is a small gap in the canopy, but hardly any light shines through, as the sun is no longer high enough in the sky to directly light up the woods. The red that streaks the sky during sundown has already faded away and the first star shines down on her new hunting ground.

Keeping her scent from spreading too much, she melts against the background of shadowy trees, using her dark clothes to her advantage. She pulls the bow slung around her shoulders into her hands and nocks an arrow from the quiver onto the bowstring. She keeps a relaxed position, though she is very much alert.

Hours crawl by as she waits for some prey, and in the course of time her stomach growls for food. Before her mission, at home, she was used to regular feeding periods, up to three meals a day. She ate a small meal before being dropped off on the path, but already that was half of a day ago. Here, in the Ninja Woods, she will get no such thing as a frequent meal. It is hunt or die.

She hears a snap as she is ready to give up for the night. Despite the chilly air, the hands that hold the grip of her straight-bow are damp with sweat, and because of it, she cannot get a firm grasp on it. Slowly, with her other hand, she reaches up to the nocking point where her arrow rests and wraps two fingers around it, ready to pull back on the bowstring if she sees her prey.

Another snap breaks the silence. A shiver of anticipation runs through her body, and she silently wills the animal to step forth and reveal itself. In her waiting, seconds feel like minutes until she finally hears the tiny feet brush aside some dry leaves. Squinting, and with the help from the slight silvery glow that the moon casts, she makes out the shape of the rabbit. It pauses from the noise it made, though is completely unaware of Kiku's presence. Then, after a wait of its own, it hops forward again, completely in the clearing. Slowly raising her elbow and pulling back the bowstring until her fingers reach her ear, Kiku concentrates on giving her arms strength, taking careful aim in the moonlight. Straightening her fingers, letting the tension of the bowstring release, the arrow silently slips forward.

When the rabbit jumps in the air, doing a summersault and unable to squeal, Kiku knows that she got it. The rabbit manages to dash a couple of steps before it falls over. Stepping forward after giving thanks to the rabbit for its life, Kiku reaches down and picks it up in her hands. The blood from its body seeps over her hands, still warm.

She brings her dinner into the center of the clearing and sets it down as she forages around for some kindling and a couple of logs for the fire. Using a shard of flint from her pocket and a knife, she uses the sparks to light the kindling and start a fire. After she is sure it will burn, she turns her attention back to the rabbit and dresses it for cooking. She then makes a stand with a couple more sticks, skewering another through the rabbit's body so that she can cook it.

She doesn't know exactly when it is finished, but after what she feels like was enough time, she takes the rabbit off of the spit and starts eating. When she has a sufficient amount, she cleans her knife, and then quenches the fire's flames. Under the cold, watchful eyes of the stars, she curls up in a small drift of leaves and falls asleep, too tired to go on any further.



Kiku wakes before the morning light reaches her eyes. Collecting her things and sheathing her knives, she follows the path stretched out before her. It twists and turns through the trees like a ribbon that was dropped from above, left to twirl in the breeze and finally fall randomly on the ground.

For the next few days, she walks from dawn to dusk, only to stop to hunt or to rehydrate herself wherever there is water. On average, a healthy person such as Kiku can walk about twenty-five miles a day.

The clearings that break the path up every now and again are fairly equidistant. They aren't that far apart, since she can walk through up to three each day, stopping at the last one at the end of the day. She only rests in the clearings because it allows her to see the sky and it is only through the illumination of the moon that she can see anything at night.

The test that landed Kiku in the woods began in autumn, but curiously the leaves are still numerous on the branches. They are more colorful than just green, and there are many freshly fallen leaves on the forest floor, but the sunlight still refuses to penetrate through the branches and leaves to help guide her through effectively. She knows that it is nearly winter—despite how warm it is now—so she must reach the end of the woods before then, or she will surely freeze to death. She races against time; it is her biggest opponent.

Of course, she still has other enemies working against her. The purpose of traveling through the woods is a drawn out training exercise. She is to follow the path to the end, facing hunger, cold, wild animals, but also a band of battle-trained ninja that make the heart of the woods their home. She is also a warrior, but not such a great one that she can take on her clan's enemies without any weapons. Without her weapons, she feels she will be doomed. She carries two knives. One is a longer dagger, about the length of her forearm, which is kept on her thigh, unhidden. The other is a short, sharp knife that she keeps strapped to her calf. Then she slings a straight bow across her shoulders, parallel to a quiver of arrows that she worked on the week before her trip.

She wakes up one morning with sunshine on her face and she knows that it is late and she will have to face her second day without food, seeing as she had not gotten anything the night before. Nonetheless, she straps on her knives and pulls her bow and quiver over her shoulders and trudges on.

By mid-afternoon she reaches her second clearing for the day, only to find that it is different from the rest. Instead of trees being absent as a result of hard soil, there isn't any dirt. A slab of white rock creates the floor of the clearing, bare except for a few leaves that blow in the chilling wind. It is larger than the normal clearings as well, though instead of circular, like the others, this one is more like a square. Then, as if the rest of the clearing isn't weird enough, there are three white rocks stacked on top of each other in the mouth of the path where it continues. They glitter slightly in the right angle of light, and are all of about the same size. Sitting down, Kiku puts her hand to her chin and wonders about it.

She is glad to have a sit down when she realizes what it means. She is not sad or angry, but instead rather a little afraid. Her sensei told her about two statues like this one, one here and the other about the same distance away from the enemy's fortress on the other end of the path. It marks a border; a line between good and evil—a boundary between the Hunters of the Shadow and the Protectors of the Shadow. She is a Protector.

Slowly, Kiku gets up again, reaching out to the statue to touch it. It seems a sturdy enough structure, seeing how all the rocks are smooth on bottom and top, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle, but when she presses her hand to its surface, it tumbles over. The sound of the crash reverberates through the trees, sending crows into the air, crying out their warnings to the rest of the woods. Kiku's only reaction is to freeze.

What had she done? Her chance of surviving the expedition without the threat of the Hunters and making it to the other edge of the woods, racing against time is about half, since the weather is quickly changing. Adding her enemies to the equation off-sets it even further and that is if she moves stealthily. But by the way she crashes through the trees, moving through the shadow of life's land with winter around the corner, she has hardly a chance. If she keeps it up, she will be dead before she even reaches the fortress, especially if it is patrolled.

Letting the full force of the truth hit her like a sledge hammer, she decides to stop at this clearing before she makes any more mistakes. Of course, another deadly piece of logic reveals itself to her. If winter falls and she is still on enemy territory, they'd be able to see her tracks. She'll have to take to the trees or risk being ambushed and killed, since she has no hopes of fighting and winning over a hundred ninja. Then again, she isn't even sure if she'll make it to that time.

The cold breeze ruffles the canopy above, creating a rattling sound. White, fluffy clouds roll across the sky as innocently as a flock of sheep. Throwing her weapons aside, she curls into a ball for sleep, and although it comes hard, she is finally given her wish of unconsciousness.



A flash of lightning crosses the sky and that is what wakes Kiku. A loud, rumbling thunder eventually accompanies the lightning, so this is, by far, the center of where the phenomena took place. Rain drums at the dry leaves around Kiku, creating an almost deafening sound around her, screwing up her bearings. Wind is the only thing that isn't vicious at her level; it claws at the trees, tearing the leaves away, but it is only at the canopy that it is strong.

She jumps to her feet, quickly gathering her weapons so that she can seek shelter. She is about to run off in search of such a place when another deafening boom discombobulates her. In her surprise, she trips over her own feet and falls to the ground, skinning her elbows through her sleeves as she catches herself before her chin slams into the rock as well. Somehow, reason unbeknownst to her because of the previous lack of dirt, she lands in a puddle of mud, which splashes up to the front of her and into her eyes.

Out of the corner of her eye she thinks she sees a movement, but she is too caught up in her own worries that she doesn't pay much attention to it. She slowly pushes herself to her knees, trying to use her hands to wipe away the mud from her eyes, but it only streaks it further with her dirty hands. So she turns her face to the sky, shutting her eyes while the stinging cold rain washes it away, even if it isn't completely effective.

Another fork of lightning streaks the sky and lightens the clearing she's in. Within the short period of time, she finds the thing that had moved earlier, since it isn't a figment of her imagination after all. Unsure of what the dark, hulking shape is, she seeks out her knife on the ground and clenches it in her hands, climbing to her feet in the meantime. Rain dripping down her face, knife poised before herself, she watches a bear rises to its feet, towering above her. Its teeth show bright in another, lesser flash of lightning and its grunting roar is drowned by the accompanying thunder. Whimpering in fright, Kiku takes a step backward, hoping that she doesn't seem like too much of a threat and that the bear doesn't know what the knife would do to it. Unfortunately, she is not fast enough. The bear lunges toward her, its teeth bared. Letting her training kick in, Kiku crouches low and waits. The animal falls just short of her nose. Then it's her turn. Her knife flashes, almost faster than they eye can see. Her conditioned legs throw her forward as she strikes at the bear's eyes, nose, throat and chest. In retaliation it waves its massive paw forward, but it only manages to grab at her shoulders with its claws, because she jumps out of the way.

Growling in pain, she uses the momentum that carried her away from the bear to turn around and jump onto its back, where it wouldn't be able to reach her with its finger-sized claws. It twists and turns in amazing maneuvers to try and throw her off, but she had managed to get a good grip before the fit. Finding Kiku still on its back, the bear bellows in frustration, cuing more lightning to streak the sky and thunder that vibrates Kiku's chest. Slowly, Kiku realizes that it is backing up into a tree, intent on squishing her between its bulk and the tree's immovable barrier. She flips off, managing to slice at its throat, cutting deep. The bear then lands with enough force to make Kiku's knees buckle. A second later, the bear's claws slice through the air just where she was before she fell. Still empty-handed, it falls forward onto four feet and bites at Kiku's bad arm. She rolls away, jumping to her feet.

The fight has lasted long enough; now Kiku is angry. No doubt the bear is as well, but where it has power Kiku has speed and agility.

Kiku grabs for her smaller knife, but realizes she left it on the ground somewhere, so she throws the one she has at the bear's neck, hoping it punctures an important vein or artery. She waits for a while, expecting it to attack her forcefully and angrily, but it merely twists its body, striking Kiku in the head while it falls over, dead. Kiku is out cold herself, as its paw acted as a club against her temple, dragging her into the blackness with the bear.

When Kiku wakes up, the sky is bright and blue, but the temperature has dropped significantly. With only the wet clothes on her body and the bear's paw still on the back of her neck, she finds herself shivering helplessly. She shifts, allowing the blood to flow back into her arm, and then surveys the damage done to her body. Her left shoulder has three deep gashes across it. Further down on the forearm, a bloody imprint of the bear's mouth will be forever existent, and she can barely clench her fist because of the pain. Besides that, she has sore muscles from the fight and from the peculiar way she laid on the ground overnight.

Turning her attention from her body, she glances around the clearing. She notices that her bow snapped in half during the fight, rendering it useless. A couple of the smaller saplings fell over during the storm and a large amount of soil from places unknown covered up the rock that was earlier exposed. A few fresh prints are stamped into the soft ground, leading up to the bear. They appear canine. Following the tracks with only sight, Kiku finds a wolf perched on top of the bear's mass, watching her with amber eyes. At first she is taken aback and slides out from under the bear's paw until she realizes he isn't out to hurt her.

The wolf is enormous. His fur is almost completely white except for numerous gray specks that are more concentrated around his spine. His tail, around his paws and his ears are all tinted a bluish color, which might have been the most exotic thing about him, until she sees him open his maw. His mouth, which is already ringed in red because he had been eating the bear, is home to numerous long, sharp teeth. Gulping, she trails her eyes to the claws on his gigantic paws, which are long, curved and as sharp as Kiku's small dagger.

Continuing her examination of the wolf, her eyes finally rest on his ears. One has been torn to shreds, and by the look of the crusted, black blood, the accident has happened recently. She wonders why this magnificent animal has such a wound, but she doesn't want to know what had caused it.

Sitting still, she waits for the wolf to eat his fill and leave, allowing Kiku to grab her knife from the bear's neck and skin the pelt away from its carcass so that she can have something to warm her. She doesn't want to find out the hard way if he would react fiercely if she advances to do it, despite knowing that she needs to keep a move on. Once finished, he jumps to the ground, shakes himself and licks the blood from his maw. He stays sitting and unmoving. After some time, she decides to speak, wondering if it will scare him off.

"Who are you?" she asks, sensing that there is something to this wolf that is different from most. Her voice comes out in a gurgle, though still squeaky because she hasn't used it in such a long time.

Almost acting as if satisfied with something rather than afraid, the wolf wags his tail and turns down toward the path a few paces. He faces Kiku again with beckoning eyes, as if telling her to follow him.

She doesn't know what to do. In most cases she would ignore the beast, but this one is unusual. "Hold on," she whispers in case she disturbs the silence and slips out from underneath the bear. She turns to it, hoping to get some meat for a couple days and slice off the fur, since the beast no longer needs it. She works until the sun reaches its zenith, carefully peeling the fur away, using her sharp, little knife when her fingers are not enough. Eventually she pulls off enough to cover herself, so she sets to work at collecting some of its meat, wrapping it up in the fur's meaty side, since she has no other way to carry it. Finally, as a trophy, she cuts off one of the bear's claws so she doesn't forget the fight, not that she ever will. Satisfied, she looks up to the wolf, which had barely moved the whole time.

As if understanding that she had completed her task, he gets to his paws and walks another few feet to the mouth of the next path. His ears are titled back, listening to her footsteps as she reaches his flanks. Trotting forward, he leads the way.

For the rest of the day they travel together; him in front, she following, examining her surroundings with interest. The trees are covered in sheets of moss and are skinny and tall. The path laid in front of her is not a path carved by man, but made by man. The woodchips are soggy and soft, as long as a man's big toe. She looks behind her and sees no difference from ahead. Then, relying on her ears rather than her eyes, she listens to the padding of her new, four-legged friend and to the sounds of the forest. Rain from the thunderstorm the night before is collecting on the leaves, dripping into puddles on the forest floor. Birds sing from somewhere in the trees, casting their beautiful joy throughout the cold air. Opening her mind even further, she tastes the freshwater rain through her mouth, which covers the scent of drying ferns spread between the trees.

She walks without her eyes until they reach the next clearing, using the wolf's footfalls as her sight when available. When they reach the next clearing, she decides not to hunt or eat and curls up under her bear fur, hoping the wolf won't eat her hard work. Subconsciously, she notes that he lies down beside her, just barely touching the skin on her legs with his fur.

Waking up the next morning, she sees the wolf where he had settled down the night before. He raises his head in greeting, giving the ground one thump with his tail, tilting his head to the side with unintelligible questions in his eyes.

"Can you understand me?" she asks him, but she receives only a tail wag in reply. She doesn't know why she asks questions, because wolves can't talk, but something compels her to ask him. He springs to his feet and waits by the mouth of the path. "Hold on," she orders, holding up her fingers. To her surprise, he sits down patiently like a trained dog. Quickly, she gathers up the bear fur and transfers the meat from the ground into a makeshift bag. Kicking around some leaves, she straightens up, throwing the bag over her shoulder. "Ready," she announces. The wolf bounces his head and trots down the wooden path, keeping the same pace as he had the day before. Silently and quickly, she follows.

They hike a few miles on the path before the wolf halts, the hair on the back of his neck bristling and his muzzle rose in a snarl. Crouching down, Kiku clutches the handle of her larger knife in her hand and waits for a cue from her guardian wolf or from some unseen attacker. Listening, she tries to pinpoint some sign of life, but hears only a few of the braver birds and a light breeze waking the dry leaves. Her knife now in plain sight, she circles slowly in one spot, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever it is that bothers the wolf, who not only growls, but also gives a short, menacing bark as if in warning to her. Tensing her muscles, she feels the hair on the back of her neck rise in anticipation of a fight, and her jaw clenches.

"Hee-ya!" A ninja stupidly screams his warning from her right in a shadowy clump of trees and clumsily jumps forward with a sword in his hand. He's dressed in a dark blue suit, covered from shoulder to toe in loose clothing. His face, although partially masked, portrays his intentions instantly. Despite his determination, Kiku isn't sure if she should take him too seriously; she was expecting formidable foes, not children.

Dropping her bear bag, she slashes at his wrists, making him drop the weapon, and then kicks him hard so that he falls to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye she sees another ninja, similarly dressed, locked in battle with the wolf, and she knows immediately that she is against the Hunters. While she is delivering the finishing blow to the first ninja, a heavy kick is delivered to her side, knocking her off her feet and causing her knife to fly out of her hand. Jumping up, she gropes around for her knife. Finding the handle, she whips it around to where she thinks the ninja to be. Turning around a second later, she sees the ninja fall onto the path, jerking with pain. Taking a running step towards him, she grabs her knife from his body and brings it over her head as another swordsman from behind tries to split her skull in half. Stepping sideways as her arms give under the force, she lets the momentum of his sword carry him off-balance, and then she elbows him in the back and drives her knife into his spine.

No one else coming after her, she sheathes her bloody knife, picks the bear fur and meat up again, and turns to her new buddy, who is licking his wounds that he received in the battle. Sensing her victory, he looks up and into her eyes. She discovers wisdom and sorrow hidden behind the physical orbs. His characteristic eyes spread warmth through her body where it was absent before. Inside those amber eyes, she remembers her sensei, and she sees him inside this wolf.

"Thank you," she nods, "Sensei."

Sensei blinks slowly, as if in agreement with his new name, and then leaps forward up the path, revealing a slight limp. Frowning, knowing that it was she who had caused this, she follows the poor wolf, leaving the bloodied bodies behind.

Reaching the next break in the path, Sensei lays down with finality after putting up such a strong hike to get here. It is still early in the day, but Kiku gives the wolf the time he needs because he helped her so much in the squabble earlier. While she waits for him to rest, she pulls out the knife she had used and inspects it. A thin layer of blood is the first thing taken care of, and then she inspects the place where the Hunter's blade bit into her blade, leaving a shallow scratch. Hoping it won't affect the strength of the weapon, she sheathes it and finds Sensei on his feet again, waiting for her.

Rising to her feet, she walks slightly behind him, letting the proud wolf take the lead. As they walk further and further, she notices his limp becomes worse, but he doesn't seem to mind much. He could have been putting on a show for anyone watching, however.

They soon reach another clearing by the time the sun starts to set, allowing him to lay down. Before he dozes off, she takes his favored paw in her hand, watching his head, but he doesn't react. Closely inspecting it, she finds a shuriken embedded in the meaty part of his leg. She removes it, jumping a little when Sensei flinches. Taking another quick glance at his face, she sees him looking at her and she can't help but let her heart melt. Applying pressure above the wound, she waits for the blood flow to slow, and then takes a strip of the meat from her bear bag, giving it to the wolf. In a couple of quick bites, he swallows it. Kiku then settles down to eat her own share. Once finished, she covers herself up in the bear blanket again and falls asleep under the appearing stars.

For the next couple days, the going is slow; the pace is set by Sensei's healing leg. They make frequent stops so that he doesn't strain his leg further, and instead of going through three clearings per day, they reach only two. After a quick run-in with one other Hunter, Kiku is constantly on her guard and doesn't even think about making a fire at night to cook the diminishing stock of bear meat. On the third day after the first fight, they run into more than just one enemy.

"Halt, there!" a voice hails from beyond a turn of the trees. The disembodied speech makes Kiku's skin crawl and her hand instantly jumps to the grip of her knife. She sets the other hand on Sensei's back, silently telling him to let her lead because of the possible danger. She steps forward enough so that she is face to face with the Hunter. "You are a stranger trespassing on our territory," the guy points out, thought he makes no move to grab the handle of the katana on his back. Kiku guesses she doesn't look like much of a threat.

"Yeah, so?" she asks him, surprised at her own response. She is never really that rude or disrespectful, even to a Hunter of the Shadow warrior.

"You must come back with me to our fortress," the man replies, puffing his chest out with authority. "You can either comply without struggle or risk your death." Five other black-clad goons then walk out from behind the thicker trees, previously hidden from Kiku's sight. Sensei bristles and growls, but with Kiku's hand on his shoulder, he doesn't pounce and attack. The two of them work together as if they have fought side-by-side for years, even though they met less than a week ago. She waits to see if any other men would jump out, but none do. Giving the wolf a quick glance, she tries to ask him if he'll be okay to fight, but she already knows the answer.

Lifting her eyes away from the wolf, she stares the lead man in the face, a grim mask on her own. "What if we don't accept either option?" she asks a taunting note in her voice.

"You haven't a choice," the man growls and makes a silent motion with his hand. Instantly, the others throw themselves at Sensei and Kiku with their weapons drawn. Kiku has only seconds to react, alert on only how she acts and reactions, though now, in the back of her mind, she is also worried about Sensei; she doesn't want her friend to die because of her.

Throwing herself to the side as she avoids a sword aimed at her heart, she sidesteps into another Hunter, throwing him off-balance and into Sensei's paws. Turning around, she pulls her knife out completely from its sheath and slices the closest man's deltoid, causing him to grimace and throw a punch at her face with his opposite arm. Turning her head slightly, his fist misses her, but he is so intent on his follow-through that he doesn't immediately notice as she kicks him where she cut him, and then stands on top of his fallen body. She knows two out of the six are down for the count.

A man tackles her to the ground from behind, pressing what feels like a wooden stick against her shoulder blade. She shrugs him off, rolling over and kicks him in the side. Once he is no longer centered, she lunges forward to slice him in the throat. Then a fourth one decides to slap her in the back of her head with a jo staff. She is thrown forward onto her hands and knees, but quickly spins on her left knee and aims her knife at his chest, which doesn't miss its mark. Getting back to her feet, she twists around to assess what else needs to be done, but even the lead man lies on the ground with Sensei's jaws around his throat.

"Whoa, boy," she says, first retrieving her knife before walking up to him and putting her hand on his back. He drops the dead man and looks up at her, licking the side of his maw with his pink tongue. Pain is portrayed through his eyes, and after a quick inspection of his body, Kiku discovers the problem. The wound from the shuriken opened up again, and the fur just below the cut is matted with new blood, but there is also a decent gash in the thick fur around his neck, which bleeds freely. She lightly touches her fingers to the spot, hoping that the bond between the two of them will save her from his teeth, but Sensei gives a warning snap not far from her hand. Hastily pulling them back, she whispers, "Sorry!" Inside, she feels a little pang for him, but he doesn't seem to care as he walks down the path, leaving the remains of the battle behind him.

They reach another clearing breaking up the path not much later. Sensei throws himself to the ground, panting and gasping for air. Kiku silently offered him numerous times to rest, but the stubborn wolf refused every offer and insisted on moving on by doing just that—moving. The last fight took a lot out of the wolf, but the blood dripping from his neck certainly doesn't help. He is an obstinate fellow, full of pride; they are the most doomed creatures.

Looking into the last of her bear meat in the bear bag, Kiku tosses the rest of it to her friend, taking only a little sliver of it for herself. She doesn't start up a campfire, but continues to eat it raw like she had ever since passing the barrier between the Hunters and the Protectors. Although Sensei doesn't eat the meat with the same enthusiasm as before, he manages to get it down and keep it down. He doses off almost immediately after, succumbing to a much deeper sleep than Kiku had ever seen him sleep before. She watches with interest for a while. She watches as his chest slowly rises and falls and how it shivers every now and again, and then how he spontaneously kicks out with one of his paws. Finally, she lets the energy lost in the fight catch up to her and she joins her friend in dreamland.

Kiku wakes up with a jolt and looks around, her eyes falling on Sensei. His breaths are no longer rhythmic and regular, but noisy and painful. His eyes blink open at her, but they can't focus and immediately shut again. Stepping forward carefully, she kneels by his side and puts a hand on his shoulder as she has done to calm him down all the other times. She doesn't want to leave him behind, yet at the same time she knows that if she doesn't move on the Hunters will come and end both of their lives. After Sensei lets out a pained puff of exhaled air, she decides to risk her safety and stay with him, either until he gets better or until his last breath.

She stands or sits by him for the whole day, barely moving beyond arms reach from his side. She strokes the fur on his spine when he whimpers painfully, but leaves him alone when he can't bear it. Eventually clouds thicken above their heads and cold water is falling from the sky by the end of the day. Her energy being sapped away by the cold and her growing grief, she falls asleep, only waking when the sun the following day pokes at her eyes. Quickly rising to her knees, she touches Sensei's shoulder, but he doesn't acknowledge her; his body is stiff and cold, his chest not rising and falling with breath. The shock of his death is great.. It reduces her to unbelieving tears, her sobs breaking painfully through her throat. The years of training leading up to the moment are forgotten; all of the conditioning and hardening of her emotions. Up until she had met Sensei, she had not one person she could call a true friend.

She tries to get up and move on as if she had never met him, but she cannot with his once powerful body lying on the ground. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she decides to bury him so he has a proper good bye. Despite the cold, the ground is soft, and she set to work on first finding a thin rock she can use as a digging utensil, and then hollowing out a decently sized hole. By the end of it she is tired, though no longer cold, and has pushed Sensei's death to the back of her mind. When she turns around and sees him, though, the barrier is easily broken and she falls over with sobs again. Gradually getting a hold of herself, she drags his body, knees buckling slightly, and carries it to the hole she had dug, gently resting him at the bottom. Dropping to her knees and bowing her head, she recites:

"Moeyasuku
Mata kieyasuki
Hotaru kana"


In English the poem translates to "It lights up as lightly as it fades: a firefly." Because the friendship that Sensei and she had shared for such a short period of time, she can compare it to the blinking of a firefly's light, fading in an out, except their friendship was only one blink, fading in, and his slow death fading it out.

Finally, waking up the courage inside of her, though not comparable to Sensei's courage, she starts shoveling earth back over Sensei's body, burying him where all life begins and ends. A gibbous moon lights her work after the sun has fallen, and it is under that moon that she lays her final pat on the grave and passes out beside it.

Without looking at the grave the next morning to prevent overwhelming emotion, Kiku walks sullenly away down the path. At some point she breaks down and falls to her knees in sudden sorrow, but once she finally composes herself and gets back to her feet, she hikes on without a tear. Since she empties her mind from all thought, she comes up to the next clearing quickly, as if no time had passed at all. The curious thing about it, which makes it stand out from the other clearings, is that instead of having another path lead the way, it opens into a pond. Tipping her head to the side, she walks up to the edge of the pool. Before going any further, she drinks as much water as she possibly will need. Then, knowing one shouldn't jump in at all if the bottom of the gathering of water cannot be seen, she ignores the logic and simply jumps right in without dropping her bear skin or taking off her clothes so as to make up for lost time. Icy water rushes past her head and the shock of it pushes the air out of her lungs. For a few moments she flounders about, searching for up and finally breaks the surface of the water, coughing and sputtering. Treading water until she gets her bearings, she catches her breath and starts to swim to the other end. Plants cling at her legs like slippery fingers, almost bringing her under, but she instantly comes back up and swims on.

Making it to the other side without any problems, she pulls herself to the shore and instantly takes off her weapons so that she can dry them as best as she can to prevent them from rusting. Letting her ragged clothing air dry, she straps the sheaths back on her body and hikes the rest of the trail so she doesn't have to camp in the middle of the path, much less near the edge of the deep pond.

Morning comes too soon. She stretches her muscles, marveling at how lucky she is for not being discovered while burying Sensei and not being attacked afterward as well. She should be happy because of it, but it only concerns her and makes her more jumpy, especially without the protection of the wolf's keen senses. Trying to keep the air of certainty around her, she follows the path, which still twists and turns continuously, still affecting her rage of sight. The trees are larger and closer because she has finally reached the heart of the woods, the place where the Hunters of the Shadow make their home.

Coming upon a tall brick wall, Kiku's thoughts suddenly all drop away as she brushes her hand curiously against the rough surface. She puts her ear against the cold surface, hoping to hear something come through the solid, but expecting none. What is on the other side? Her mind wanders, and she can hear cars from her home city.

A twig snaps behind her, jerking her away from her fantasy land. Slowly, she unsheathes her larger knife without making a noise, gripping it so hard in her right hand that her knuckles turn white. Leaves crunch to her left, signaling that the person behind the snap isn't alone. Kiku turns sharply, holding her knife diagonally in front of her, anticipating a fight. The wall is to her back so she doesn't have to worry about a rear attack. Out of the corner of her eye she spots a ninja reveal himself from a heavy clump of brush before attacking, holding a bo staff in his hands. Grieving for her friend must be put behind her, because now is the time to focus, to fight.

The ninja swings the staff above Kiku's head, though she doesn't move because she knows it will miss her. Maybe hoping his friend will distract her, the other ninja appears from a high tree, holding a pair of nunchaku in his hands and swinging them in continuous circles.

Darting forward a few steps, Kiku wheels around to face her enemies, who easily follow. The first man, if he could yet be called that, swings his staff to Kiku's face, which she easily blocks with the side of her dagger while she backs away, letting them think that she's giving up without a fight. They lighten their attacks. She can tell they're novices because even their hardest blows she can easily block with her forearms or knife. They think she's her equal or lesser because she's steadily giving them ground, almost as if she's unable to protect herself. Kiku is almost disappointed they aren't the battle-trained ninja she was led to believe were out here. Pretending as if she's wearing out, Kiku guards herself even heavier, making it seem as if she can barely control her knife, as if she's a clumsy woman.

One of the ninja laughs and in response the other nods. The one with the nunchucks attacks her knees with one and her hip with the other for no logical reason. She half-heartedly blocks him, but while he is attacking, the other ninja, the one with the bo, is preparing for a death blow. Pretending she's giving her complete attention to the other, she keeps her eyes on the bo staff kid, who uses his staff to hit her behind the neck with blinding speed. She's been waiting for such a move. Up until this moment, she's only been using her knife and the forearm holding it, not her fists or feet. Kicking out with her left foot, she hits the second ninja under the ribs, causing him to double over. Her left hand powerfully disarms the first and beheads him, because ninja—even good ones—are assassins if push comes to shove. Jumping onto the squatting ninja's back, she holds her bloody knife to his throat. "Drop your weapons and give me no hassle, or you'll end up like your friend," she growls, though her unpracticed voice doesn't portray the threat as well as she would have liked.

"A-anything," the boy stutters, throwing his weapons to the side as if they are rag dolls.

"If I get off, you won't run," Kiku says, more of an order than a suggestion. Feeling him nod, she reluctantly pulls her bloodthirsty knife away from his throat, crawling off his back. The boy only stiffens and doesn't dare move. "I'll strike a deal with you," she announces, "take it or leave it, I don't care." He stares at her wide-eyed. "If I bring you along with me, you can't be human; you must be ninja—silent. That's the only way I let you live." She crosses her arms and gives the boy time to think.

"Agreed," he finally whispers, barely audible, sticking out his hand to close the deal. Kiku ignores the gesture, only craning her neck to stare at the top of the tall wall. She asks him, "Great, now how do you get past this wall?"

"This way," the boy asserts her, and with the amount of confidence he has in his voice, she lets him take the lead. The further they walk along the wall, the more the path becomes pronounced; greenery is slowly disappearing.

"If you lead me into a trap," she warns, "it will be off with your head." She grabs her sharper knife to prove it. The boy keeps walking at his pace, but Kiku can tell that his face grew paler.

He stops suddenly, pointing at the wall, as if he is pointing through it. "There i-is a—our hideout i-in those-those walls," the kid stammers pathetically, shrinking when Kiku turns her cold, brown gaze on him.

"Very good," she congratulates him, trying to keep the sarcasm from her voice. "Now that's a way to earn my trust." The boy doesn't smile, but denies her eye contact. She can tell the kid doesn't trust her, but she also notices other things about him as he leads the way: his hair is shoulder-length, the dull color of a stained wood, hanging thinly and limply from his scalp; he has broad, powerful shoulders and well developed arm muscles to better control his weapon of choice; he's rather skinny as well, though from the way his clothes loosely ripple in the wind he creates from walking, Kiku can't tell anything beyond that; and finally, she estimates him to be about eighteen or nineteen years old. At his age he should be better trained than he is, since his performance wasn't commendable when he was attacking her. He is shorter than her by as much as give inches, and she isn't even that tall herself.

The current path is unlike the woodchip-strewn path that she has been walking on the past many days. Instead of being dug out, it is worn down by many generations of footsteps, following the great brick wall beside them that slowly curves in a continuous circle.

"There are guards above us," the kid points out flatly, retreating into the shadowy safety of a young willow tree. She faintly sees him point upwards in the direction of the sentinel.

Following his gaze, as shadowed as it is, Kiku finds what he is referring to. Indeed, it is something on top of the wall, looking out through the trees for an intruder, completely missing both the kid and Kiku. "Great," Kiku breathes, crouching down beside the boy before the guard decides to look downward. "Hold on." She turns to face him, her face grave. "If I can't trust you, I'll kill you. Now tell me, do you have a shuriken?"

"What's that?" the kid asks, dumbfounded.

She sighs, shaking her head in exasperation. How could someone that lives—or lived at this point in time—with the Hunters of the Shadow not know what a shuriken is? And how is Kiku going to get the guard down here so she can slit his neck without him warning others that they are there? "Do you know him?" she asks.

The kid shakes his head. "No."

Standing still with her chin resting on her folded hand, she continues to look up at the guard while he remains unaware that they are even there. If they got this far without him noticing, then he wouldn't notice if they went any further, would he? Studying any patterns she might notice in his behavior, Kiku realizes he doesn't even try at his job, but continues to look off into space. "We're going to sneak past," she tells the kid, grabbing his arm and pulling his ear closer to her mouth so she doesn't have to raise her voice. "Silence or death, understand?" The kid nods his head, so she shoves him forward, letting him stumble quietly back on the path. Following warily, jerking at the slightest disturbance in the air, she practically pushes the kid until they're out of the guard's eye and ear shot. Walking a little easier from then on, they reach no more guard stations until the continuation of the woodchip path. Traveling backwards the whole time, Kiku is exhausted when they reach the next clearing. The kid, however, isn't as tired, rather so full of energy Kiku could see it burning in his eyes. "I can tell you're bursting with questions," she sighs, sitting down and resting her arms. "I'll tell you what I deem appropriate."

"Thank you!" the boy rushes, comically slapping his face with the palms of his hands. "Why do you wear rags?"

"I have no other clothes," she says simply, looking at her attire. She hadn't noticed that they were so ripped and dirty.

"Okay . . . then why do you have so many scratches and stuff? They're everywhere! Your face, your arms, everything is covered with them!"

Again, Kiku has to study herself before she can answer him. "I fought and killed a bear," she answers him. At this comment she pulls out her bear claw and rubs the surface of it underneath her thumb. "May I have a turn?" she asks.

"Sure," the kid replies, almost bashfully. The timidity quickly disappears. "But I didn't get a good turn."

Kiku ignores his second comment, straightening up a little from her slumped position. "What's your name?"

"Chiaki," he answers instantly.

"Nice."

A pause. "Are you done?"

"Yes."

"Great! What's a shuriken?"

Rolling her eyes, Kiku pulls the knife from on her leg and quickly carves a simple shuriken shape into the dirt. Chiaki jumps at the sudden appearance of her weapon, but leans over curiously when she stuffs it back in the leather sheath after wiping the blade clear of dirt.

"Oh! A ninja throwing star!"

Kiku's only reply to this statement is to throw him a skeptical look, wondering what the Hunters are teaching their pupils. So much for knowledgeable and battle-trained, like Kiku had been preparing for.

"How old are you?"

"That's not a very polite question."

"Are you going to answer?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I'm old enough." Kiku sets her jaw, already a little frustrated; she doesn't work well with child, or teenagers who act as if they are still young enough to be care-free. The only reason she is dealing with Chiaki is because she has a feeling he might be an asset to her in the near future.

"Fine."

"Any more questions?" Kiku asks, her hopes rising slightly.

"Hmm . . . yeah."

Rolling her eyes, she grunts, "Spill," and then drops her arms so that she is lying on her back.

"Why are you in the woods?" Chiaki's usual enthusiasm is not added to this question, and instead his voice sounds sincere and concerned, as if she is a wounded, wild animal that is completely out of her habitat. In a way, she is.

His question catches her off guard, and she feels the breath catch in her chest. Hesitating, and involuntarily showing it through her voice, she says, "I'll tell you only if you give me a story in return."

"Alright, it's a deal!" he chatters, back to his excited ways. Kiku nods, her eyes closed as she thinks over how to begin the story. Deciding on a tactic, she sits up and focuses her eyes on him, telling him briefly about how walking the path is like a rite of passage. She adds a couple more details, but keeps the overall background story rather short.

"You aren't eager to stay with me because I threatened your life," she points out when she's finished, her brown eyes locked on him. He turns his face away, but gives a slight nod. "So why?"

"I . . . didn't fit in," he confesses quietly. "I was kind of pushed around, always called names and things. Everyone always said I was stupid and was retarded, because I couldn't fight as good as them. It just sucked there. The person I was with when you found us, he was like the only person who could stand me sometimes. Even he got annoyed with me."

Kiku suddenly feels a little uncomfortable. She didn't expect the answer to be so morose and heart-felt. Even with some thinking she can't think of an appropriate response so she settles herself on the ground, set on trying to get some sleep.

"I'm hungry!" he complains, contorting his face in a childish manner. When he gets no reaction from Kiku, he continues: "I didn't eat lunch today."

Kiku snorts in laughter, unable to control herself. "What did you have for breakfast?" she asks flatly, not caring if he answers or not.

Staring hard at Kiku, Chiaki wears a bewildered expression, possibly afraid of the sudden change in her demeanor. "That's not important," he sniffs and cross his arms, turning up his nose in obvious mockery.

Hiding her humorous side, she pulls out her knife and holds it up so that he can see it. Her face grows serious enough to cause him to speak. Holding up his hands as if defending himself, Chiaki says, "O-okay. I ate two eggs, a glass of orange juice and a banana." Sheathing her knife, Kiku rolls on the ground, laughing even harder than before. "W-what?" he hollers, trying to figure out why she is so amused.

Shaking her head, controlling herself, she decides to tell him the answer to that question. "I haven't had anything to eat for . . ." she trails off, counting the days on her fingers. "Four days? And even then what I ate was a little raw meat."

Chiaki's face is a mask of horror. "Y-you ate meat raw?" he stammers, backing away from her.

"Yeah," she sneers. "All I have to eat is what the forest gives me, and I can't start a fire to cook it. I've had nothing as fancy as you for a very long time." She pokes him in the chest, seeing as he didn't back out of her arms reach. "I don't think it's your place to complain anymore, now is it?" Cringing in terror from her touch, his legs scrambling for purchase on the ground, he finally puts the distance of the clearing between them, allowing Kiku to roll over and fall asleep.

She wakes up before the sun shines into the clearing and before the kid awakens himself. "Wake up, kid! Time to leave camp! Let's go!" she bellows, though only loud enough to rouse Chiaki.

"What?" the kid cries, jumping up and then landing on his butt. "Hey! What—no breakfast?"

"Never," she laughs and turns to leave.

"What?" he shrieks, running to catch up with her, and then soon matches her pace. "How do you live?"

She winks. "If you're lucky, I'll start a fire tonight."

"'If I'm lucky'?" the boy quotes, his jaw dropping.

"Yup."

A moment of silence passes between the two. "Oh!" he suddenly pipes, perking up, "I didn't ask your name."

"Kiku," she answers.

They continue on while Chiaki chatters about random subjects and Kiku concentrates beyond her physical horizon of sight so the two of them won't be ambushed. Suddenly, she pauses.

"What?" Chiaki asks nervously, noticing that she's not behind him any longer.

"Quiet," she hisses, dropping into her expectant fighting position and pulling out her dagger, which she tosses to Chiaki, hoping he can catch it.

"Wha—?" he starts, grabbing it out of reflex. He even manages to take the handle and not cut himself.

"Heh!" she snaps to shut him up, cutting her hand violently through the air. "Defend yourself!"

"Uh-oh." Chiaki crouches into a defensive stance, knife in hand, as he realizes what she's getting at. She pulls out the knife she adopted as a throwing knife, expecting Chiaki to cover her back as she shifts slightly, and waiting for the body behind the sounds she heard. After an extensive period of time, Chiaki grows impatient. "Uh, Kiku, I don't think we're under attack."

"Very observant," she snaps crossly. She drops her own position and puts the small, sharp knife back. "Keep the knife for now. It isn't good for throwing, but I always think it's nice to have a blade. Stay on your toes; we could be ambushed any time now. And, Chiaki, keep your mouth closed unless it's necessary," she rattles off in succession, hoping he'll remember the three points in her little speech.

They walk silently on, stopping occasionally when Kiku thinks she hears something out of the ordinary in the thick trees outside of the path. She senses Chiaki's fear grow, but she doesn't comment on it. "Chiaki," she begins suddenly, making him jump. "No more fire. If we find something to eat, it'll be raw." To her relief, he nods, clenching his jaw grimly.

The day passes and they finally reach another clearing. Quietly, she tells him to go around and see if he can find any edible plants, mostly so she doesn't starve; her strength is waning noticeably and her breathing is hard after the long trek through the day. She crouches on the border of the clearing, holding her small throwing knife in the place of her bow and arrow, hoping she might chance upon another rabbit or other game animal. By the time darkness falls, she comes up empty-handed and Chiaki had only filled one hand with wild blackberries. He hands most of them over to her, and if she didn't need the food so much, she would have refused.

"You want first or second watch?" she asks him, leaning back on a tree with her hands over her head.

"Second," he yawns, stretching in the typical way a tired man does. "I need to keep up my strength."

She forces out a couple laughs and lays her knife in her lap, getting comfortable. "Glad to see you listen," she mutters with as much humor as she can muster. His response is to find a soft patch of moss and lay down, curling up against the cold.

It gets dark. A normal person would only just make out their hand in the light of the small, crescent moon. Since Kiku had trained her eyes for years, she can see the whole clearing as if it is bathed in the light of a full moon. Checking herself so she doesn't doze off, she waits for hours as nothing happens. Glancing up at the moon, she decides that she will wake Chiaki and settle down for a rest. She knows she won't fully fall asleep because she can tell that he will not make a great sentry, as he probably has a year or two of training.

Hearing a twig snap, she is pulled to her sharpest senses again and she tenses, ready to wake Chiaki at moment's notice. Nothing happens straight after the sound, but she doesn't relax her guard. Another few minutes later, an unnatural rustling sound comes from her right. She prays to no one in particular for it to be a deer, but knows deep down that it isn't. Hopefully they should think her asleep, giving her the benefit of surprise.

More crackling from the dead, hanging leaves comes from her left. She wishes to wake Chiaki, but he'd only make noise, thanks to his training like that of a fly, though even a fly is near silent. As the seconds tick by, Kiku's hear thumps harder. The crunching comes from all around the clearing now, happening in shorter intervals of time and in closer distance to the pair.

She thinks back to what her sensei told her before she was sent out on this training exercise. "You said there are only about a hundred of them?" she had asked.

"No, Kiku. There are at least a thousand Shadow Ninja, and that was when I went through the woods."

She remembers her younger friend, Seiko, saying just as gaily as Chiaki, "There must be five thousand ninja now!"

"No," sensei rejected, "their place is not big enough to hold such numbers."

Sticks snap all around, protesting loudly when heavy weight is put onto them. The ninja are in the clearing now, but Kiku waits for the right moment.

About half a year ago, to frighten Seiko, she said, "Many people never even come back. Several go in, few come out." She realizes now that she had said the truth and that wasn't any joke.

Now, she decides, is the time to act. Jumping to her feet, knife in hand, she cries out, "Chiaki! Wake up! We're under attack!"

Chiaki jumps up clumsily and screeches, "Ah! I was hoping you were wrong!"

Shaking her head, Kiku dives at the closest ninja, plunging her small knife into his chest. Pulling it out again she spins around only to get tackled by two more. At such a close range it isn't hard to slit her attackers' throats, and she pushes them off her. Another ninja takes her down instantly, letting a sword that had been aimed at her neck cut harmlessly through the air over their heads. Stabbing her knife into his stomach, she pushes him off as well and then jumps for the nearest Hunters' legs so that they fall heavily onto their comrades behind them. Taking no chances, Kiku pounces on them and gives half of them the bliss of death, but sends the other ones off with deep wounds on lesser parts of their bodies. She keeps twisting and turning to throw attackers off that jump on her and carve them open when she has the chance. Eventually, once she is near exhaustion even with the adrenaline surge, the last few turn tail and run back to where they came from.

Panting, Kiku goes around the clearing to find Chiaki. Bloody bodies are on the ground, making it difficult to make her way around, but at least it is only her that is standing. Finally, she finds the kid under the body of another ninja. His chest still rises and falls, signaling he hasn't left her. Summoning the rest of her strength she pulls Chiaki onto her shoulders and leaves the bodies, both dead and alive, behind as she begins to walk the few miles to reach the next clearing.

Instead of feeling victorious and triumphant, she feels empty, sorrowful, regretful and shameful; those children didn't deserve to die yet. Because of the side they might not have even chosen, they died because they were ordered to, fighting a body with much more power and experience than them.

Kiku hasn't slept for more than twenty-four hours. She knows that it is well past midnight and it is neigh impossible to see on ground level, thanks to the canopy. Though thick, the trees are noticeably thinning as they get farther and farther away from the heart of the forest. Eventually, she comes upon the next clearing and sees the sky has lightened to dawn. Sunlight winks through the small amount of leaves still on the branches. Collapsing, she passes out from exhaustion, dropping Chiaki carelessly on the ground beside her.

When the sun is completely in the sky and Kiku has gotten enough sleep for her to at least function, she looks around the clearing. She notices another stone statue, marking the edge of the Hunters' territorial claim. She lethargically collects enough berries and leaves to stop her stomach from rumbling, leaving Chiaki snoozing in the clearing. She finds enough and feasts on them, finally beginning to feel like a human being again.

When finished, she returns to the clearing and crouches beside Chiaki, watching him sleep. "Chiaki, if you can hear me, I leave at sundown," she whispers, merciless, even though she feels for the kid. "I won't be able to carry you. If you don't wake, I'm afraid I must leave you here." For what fate? So that he can die at the hands of the Hunters for being a traitor?

His eyes flutter open. "Kiku," he groans, "food."

Chuckling softly, grateful that he is awake, she hands him a few blackberries, which he quickly gobbles down. "Help yourself," she tells him, spreading her arms to show how many wild berries there are located here. He tears at them with a ferocity she has never seen previously. When full, he lays against a tree, patting his stomach. "That's the best 'meal' I've ever had with you," he points out happily.

"You ate more than I did!" she exclaims, looking around at the empty bushes, which aren't even supposed to bear fruit at this time of the year anyway. He laughs and tosses a small pebble at Kiku's head, which innocently bounces off. "Alright," she growls, cuffing him, "time to go."

"Aw man," Chiaki complains, though out of good humor. Even so, when Kiku leaves, Chiaki follows with a string of complaints.

The canopy gives way to the ghostly moon a few days down the path, lending the pair its light. The path grows broader, allowing them to walk side by side rather than play follow the leader. Then the path suddenly ends, giving way to a small, rocky cliff. Going up to the edge, they look down at a small, medieval town, minus the church. A fire burns in the center, giving the residents of the place warmth, which is greatly needed in the nearing winter.

Sighing, Kiku starts down the hill, followed closely by Chiaki. The journey in the woods is over, but it only begins a new adventure, a new life, that lies before them.